72% of Financial Consumers "Unaware of the Right to Request Interest Rate Reduction"

"Well aware" response only 27%
Awareness rate among loan holders also just 40%

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] A survey revealed that only about 27% of financial consumers are well aware of the right to request an interest rate reduction. Even among loan holders, the awareness rate was less than half.

On the 19th, market research firm Consumer Insight conducted a survey on the awareness of the right to request an interest rate reduction among 1,018 adults aged 20 to 69 over two weeks from August 29 to September 8. Only 27.7% responded that they "know well" about it. The highest response was 40.8% who said they "have heard of it but do not know the details," and 31.5% answered that they "do not know at all."

The awareness rate was highest among those in their 50s, but even then, it was only 38.4%. Among loan holders, only 40.4% answered that they "know well" about the right to request an interest rate reduction.

Among loan holders, 20.9% reported having applied for the right to request an interest rate reduction. Of these, only 36.1% said their request was accepted.

Most applicants (80.6%) reported experiencing inconveniences. The difficulties cited included ▲strict eligibility requirements (29.9%) ▲complex supporting documents (16.1%) ▲unclear application methods and explanations (14.9%) ▲the time taken to receive the review results (13.8%) ▲branch visits (13.8%) ▲and unfriendly or passive attitudes of staff (11.5%).

According to the Bankers Association disclosure, the number of applications for interest rate reductions on household loans in the banking sector in the first half of this year was 850,236. Of these, only 23.6% (209,100) were accepted. There was also a large variation in acceptance rates among banks. Shinhan Bank was the only one among the four major commercial banks to record an acceptance rate in the 20% range, while NH Nonghyup Bank had an acceptance rate as high as 60.5%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.